On the Ice
by NephilimEQ
Summary: Part 4 of the "Places Series" - Eliot plays some hockey and has some time on the ice with someone special in his life. PLEASE READ & REVIEW!


**A.N. - This takes place near the end of "The Blue Line Job", and is slightly different from the rest of the "Places Series", but I **_**really**_** enjoyed writing it. Please enjoy reading it!**

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**On the Ice**

This was a hard job. A lot harder than Eliot had expected it to be.

Oh, he'd been prepared for the physical part of the job, that wasn't the part that he was having problems with. What he was having problems with were the psychological aspects. Hockey looked simple to everyone else who didn't play, but as a player it messed with your head.

All he wanted to do was to sleep, with Parker in his arms.

She was casually dating Hardison, but she had not left Eliot, even though he insisted that the two of them carrying on at the same time was a bad idea.

He remembered when he'd suggested that they break things off she had grasped him firmly by the collar of his shirt and said to him in an icy tone to _never_ suggest such an idea again…and that was how he knew how serious she was with him.

She'd explained to him that Hardison was a distraction, and that he needed some reassurance…and Eliot could understand that.

He didn't like it, but he knew that she'd never those three little words to anyone but him.

And he aimed to keep it that way.

He was tired and exhausted after the big game, but he had waited until everyone else had cleared out first before entering the locker room. After he'd showered and changed and was toweling his hair dry, he heard a sound out on the ice.

Of course in the back of his mind he knew he should check it out, but he did _not_ want to move at that moment. He was tired and exhausted and simply wanted a steak, a beer, and a couch.

But, of course, he decided to check it out.

He threw on his shoes and walked out into the darkened rink, wary…but then he saw who it was.

There was Parker, lying on her back on the ice, her breath coming out in cold clouds. She wore her typical black clothes, but her hair was free behind her, and he realized that she'd taken her jacket off and was using it as a pillow.

"Parker…what are you doing here?"

She slowly sat up at hearing his voice and just gave him an inscrutable smile.

"Come here," she said, her voice soft, a hand extended towards him.

Unable to ever deny her, he walked over to her and took her hand…and then she pulled him down onto the ice. She motioned for him to lay his head next to her on her jacket, so he did, smiling as she snuggled up next to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

He then whispered in her ear…

"Wasn't this one of your fantasies, sweetheart?"

He could feel her smile against his chest and then he felt her nod slightly. "Yeah…but it can wait."

At hearing that, he smiled, and was silently proud of her. She was taking the chance to skip their usual passionate tryst to instead savor a rare moment between the two of them. A moment of quiet, of peace…of just the two of them.

He drank it in, burning the memory into his mind. The sensation of her hair against his neck, the feel of her arms around his waist, the smell of the ice, the smell of her skin…

…and, thinking of that, he slid a finger under her chin and tilted her head up to his, and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.

This time was slow; almost lazy.

In the darkness of the rink, lying on the ice, her coat the only thing between them and the freezing surface beneath them, they made love. It was not mindless, and it was not rushed in any way. Clothes were slowly taken off, the exposed skin lovingly caressed by lips and tongue. They took their time driving each other crazy, ghosting their hands along the other's flesh, drawing it out, making their arousal last.

When he finally slid into her, it was like coming home…he felt complete. Whole.

They lost themselves in the other, moving together as though it would be the last time they might have the chance to touch each other.

The darkness and the cold combined should have made them want to rush, but instead they continued to take their time.

They soon both had a fine sheen of sweat over their bodies, making their union slick and simmering with suppressed heat; it was unique. Singular. It was the two of them, and that was all that mattered. All that mattered.

It was sweet and hot and perfect.

They both reached sweet, shuddering climaxes and practically melted into each other from the intensity of it.

"Parker," he whispered into her ear. He then hesitated for a long time…and then said the words. "I love you."

She looked up at him and smiled.

"I know, Eliot…I know. Me too."

The way she said it was entirely Parker, and he adored her for it. He wasn't in the least bit upset that she hadn't actually said the words; she didn't need to. She _really_ didn't need to. She showed him all the time in the small things that she did. She was Parker…and he accepted her for it.

And that was the difference between him and Hardison, and he knew it.

Hardison could accept parts of her, and then tried to change the rest…Eliot simply accepted her.

And _that_ was what mattered.

It was all that mattered.

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**THE END**


End file.
